


Catch Fire

by moonbands



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Honestly it's just cool, Lashton - Freeform, M/M, magic!5sos, magic!michael, malum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-05-03 00:11:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5269244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonbands/pseuds/moonbands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Calum is running late. He's rushing to his next class when he notices something out of the ordinary. This boy with bright red hair literally has his hand on fire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. At Your Fingertips

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pnkrckclffrd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pnkrckclffrd/gifts).



Calum nervously rushes to his next class, which is halfway across campus and he only has a minute left to get there. He knows he shouldn't have spent that extra time talking with his friends outside of his other class, and maybe he shouldn't have taken two classes with less than ten minutes in between.

He's looking around for the teacher, praying to some sort of higher form that his professor is also running late and that Calum makes it in the classroom before him. His eyes lock on some very bright red hair, and he can't look away. Not because of his hair, but because this boy's hand is literally on fire. The redhead's eyes meet Calum's, and it's the scariest thing he's ever seen.

And before Calum knows what's happening, his shoulder slams into a sign, causing him to step back in pain, and then lose balance. His hand immediately reaches up to grab on to the metal sign, but he only manages to scratch his palm before he's dropping to the ground, his other hand scraping against the concrete sidewalk painfully. His skinny jeans make a horrible ripping sound as he knee hits the ground, and fuck that hurts.

Calum rolls over so he's sitting up, and he carefully spreads his legs in front of him. His jeans are ripped at the knee, and he can see blood prickling his skin around what he already knows is going to be a bruise. He looks at his burning hands, and finds a large slice down one palm while the heel on the other is just scratched up pretty bad. He doesn't know how he's going to get back up without hurting his already injured hands.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" he hears someone ask before the same boy from earlier slides to his knees next to him. Calum watches as the redhead looks over the situation, from Calum's knees, his hands, to his face. 

Calum is stunned for a second. Here he is, sitting on the ground with scrapes and bloody skin, and this random dude who literally just had his hand on fire is asking Calum if he's okay. Calum nods, and then looks at his hands. "Uh, can you help me stand up?"

The boy smiles at Calum, lifting Calum up by pulling on his wrists. Although it might not be the most comfortable thing, Calum's sure it's better than using his hands at the moment.

"What about you? Are you alright?" Calum asks, his eyes looking down at the boy's hands by his side.

"Why wouldn't I be?" the boy asks cautiously, his shoulders tensing as he picks up Calum's backpack so Calum doesn't have to.

"Y-your hand was, um, on fire," Calum stutters, wondering how this boy can simply ignore something like that.

The redhead's face changes from cautious to panicked to blank all in a span of one second. "I was just doing this cool party trick by myself. You pour gas on your hand and then set it on fire. You can't hold it for too long, or you'll burn your hand." The boy's cheeks are pink, and his voice is soft as he explains.

Calum doesn't feel right with the boy's explanation. "Do you have a lighter?" he asks.

The boy's face grows wary as he fumbles through his pockets. "I m-must have left it over there," he mumbles. He glances down at Calum's hands and promptly changes the subject. "We should get you cleaned up."

"No, I have a cl-" Calum interrupts himself as he gasps. "Oh shit, I'm late for class!" Calum yells when he realizes. He reaches for his backpack from the redhead's shoulder, but the boy moves away.

"You can miss one class for your physical health," the boy argues. He grabs Calum's outstretched hand, and Calum immediately pulls away because OW. "See? You can't write with your hands like this." Calum almost tries to argue, and then he just sighs to himself. This kid is right.

"C'mon," the boy motions Calum to follow him. "I'll take you to my friend's classroom. He's an assistant teacher in the biology classes, and they're always getting hurt in there."

Calum has no choice but to follow the redhead, not wanting him to walk off with his backpack. "I'm Michael by the way," the boy introduces himself.

"I'm Calum," Calum replies. Calum is vaguely aware of Michael leaving his lighter on the ground as they walk towards a new building, but he doesn't say anything about it.

Michael holds open the door for Calum, who thinks he's being chivalrous until Calum remembers he can't use his hands. The two move inside the room, and Calum can't believe how ignorant he's been so far because he doesn't remember walking into a greenhouse.

"Ashton's also a botanist when he's not working," Michael explains, but that doesn't give Calum any indication to where they are or how this place will help Calum get cleaned up.

Michael guides Calum through different plants scattered on long tables, each flourishing beautifully and amazingly green. Whoever Ashton is, Calum thinks, he's an incredible botanist. Michael creaks open a door, peering inside before calling out, "Michael's here with company!"

Calum hears a very soft "shit" from inside the room, and then a cluttering sound as Michael turns around and smiles awkwardly at Calum, rocking back and forth as he waits for the noises to stop. The door opens up behind Michael a few minutes later, and there appears a very handsome man Calum assumes is Ashton.

He's covered in sand or soil, Calum's not sure which. That does not, however, distract from the pretty hazel eyes looking back at him through some square glasses. Ashton also has long-ish, wavy brown hair that looks like it's touched the sun. His skin has a nice tan, so there's no doubt that he spends a lot of time outside, or at least in a greenhouse. Given his somewhat calming exterior, the last thing Calum expected was what came from his mouth.

"Why the fuck did you bring him here?" Ashton asks Michael, his eyes scanning Calum up and down.

Michael looks appalled at Ashton for a second. "Because he's hurt. What the fuck? Don't be rude. Where's the First Aid kit?"

Ashton glances at Calum one more time before disappearing behind the door again, Michael following him inside. Calum's unsure whether or not to go after him, but Michael's head pops back out and says, "Come in, there's a sink and soap in here too."

Calum saunters inside before the door can shut, and is immediately met with shelves upon shelves of dirt in buckets, plastic containers, ziplock bags, pots, and even still in the packages from the store. He's not sure why anyone from the biology part would need so much dirt, but then he thinks that maybe some people's hobbies don't correspond with their work. 

Calum finds Michael at the very end of the narrow room, where Ashton looks frustrated as he separates prepackaged soil into different containers by hand. Calum sees that it's a little messier in this area of the room, dirt covering the lower parts of the walls. He doesn't see dirt where Michael's standing at the sink, so he doesn't mention it.

He walks over to Michael, who put Calum's backpack on a stool and is running water through the tap. Michael grabs a clean rag and dips it in the water, then faces Calum as he gently takes his hand. Calum winces slightly as Michael dabs at his hand, the blood already dried so it's more difficult to get off. Once it's visibly cleaned up, Michael tell him to wash his hands with the antibacterial soap sitting on the counter next to the sink. "Don't want to get it infected."

After Calum washes his hands, Michael starts cleaning up his knee through his torn jeans. Calum figures he'd rather have a wet spot on his jeans than walk around with a bloody knee. Michael turns around and takes a square of gauze from the First Aid kit laid out behind him and tapes it to Calum's knee. He repeats the process with Calum's split palm, wrapping the bandage around his cut and the other side of his hand, making sure it stays in place.

"You should probably replace those every once in a while, but I'm not a doctor. You do you," Michael suggests, packing up the First Aid kit again. He turns back around when he's finished and puts his hands behind him, leaning them on the counter.

Calum looks at him for a minute, taking in the characteristics he forgot to look at when he first saw the boy. Michael's skin is pale, but still has a healthy glow to it. He's growing stubble out along his jaw, which Calum finds deeply attractive. His green eyes seem different than what they were the first time Calum saw them, but he thinks maybe he was too busy worrying about the fire on Michael's hand rather than his eyes. Michael has a piercing through one of his eyebrows, and Calum also finds that surprisingly attractive, never really one to have a thing for piercings. Then again, piercings aren't that much different than tattoos, basically just extensions to the body.

And then Calum realizes he hasn't given any indication that he's thankful for what Michael's done. "Thank you," he says quietly.

"If you two are done staring all googly-eyed at each other, maybe get him out of here?" Ashton utters out, the comment more towards Michael than Calum. Nonetheless, he feels his cheeks burn. His dark skin hides his blush, but his posture changes as he becomes flustered. 

"Alright, um," Michael starts, looking around himself. He picks up Calum's backpack. "You should call me if you need anything," Michael carefully suggests, his eyes darting away from Ashton, who looks kind of pissed, but Calum's not sure why.

Calum takes his backpack from Michael, grimacing as his lesser injured hand pulls it over his shoulder. "Yeah, I'll call you." He hands Michael his phone from his backpack, watching as Michael types in his number.

Michael helps Calum out of the building, and then they're in the sun again. Michael smiles softly at Calum, and Calum sees a glint of the color he thought Michael's eyes were in the first place. He doesn't really think anything of it after that, figuring it was probably just a trick of his mind. 

"Um, I'll see you later," Michael says. Calum recognizes that "see you later" is different than "see you around," and he's pleased. It's only been around a week of school, and he's hardly made a friend except for the blonde boy that shares a dorm with him that always studies. Now that Calum thinks about it, he's never thought about asking the blonde his name, so maybe it's Calum's fault that he has no friends.

"Okay, see you," Calum replies, walking away from Michael after giving him a smile. He's not really sure what he's supposed to do now because his lecture is going on, so normally he'd be there.

Calum glances around the quad, seeing a few people lounging around between classes. He remembers what Michael said about his lighter, and he figures he should maybe go look for it to return it. When he makes it to the area he thinks Michael was in, he starts searching for the tiny rectangular prism.

Calum thinks he probably spent ten minutes looking before giving up, his hands sore and his knee telling him to stop putting pressure on it. Calum decides to just go back to his dorm for a little while.

 

Over the next few days, he's asked Michael to help him with his bandages a few times, and he's learned where Michael's dorm room is. He finds himself liking to spend time with Michael, and he's glad that he has a friendly face around campus.

Calum buys a new lighter for Michael, and stops by Michael's dorm unexpectedly to drop it off. He knocks on the door, the lighter growing warm as he holds it in his hand. Michael opens the door, his red hair disheveled and his eyes a bright green, a few spots of yellow shimmering through. Calum's voice gets caught in his throat as he recognizes that color, but it's not quite the same.

"Hey," Calum smiles easily, Michael moving out of the way to let Calum in. "I brought something for you."

"What is it?" Michael asks, his eyes going back to his normal color as he rubs them. He watches as Calum uncurls his fingers and then takes a wary step back.

"I got it to replace your old lighter," Calum explains, holding out his hand for Michael to take it. Michael still looks confused.

"What lighter?" he asks, carefully looking over the one in Calum's hand.

"The one you lost the day you met me," Calum answers, grabbing Michael's hand. He opens it up, and sticks the lighter in it before Michael can pull away. In a sudden burst of heat, Michael's hand erupts in flames, and Calum pulls back immediately, his own skin a little bit singed.

Calum can't seem to believe his eyes as Michael holds on to the lighter, not seeming to be burned at all as fire continues to flicker on his palm. "What the fuck?!" Calum yells, knocking the lighter from Michael's hand to the floor. The fire stops, and Calum grips Michael's hand in his. "What the fuck?" he repeats, seeing no damage to Michael's skin at all.

He looks up at Michael's eyes, and there's that color. It's an orange color, but it quickly dwindles back to green. Calum stares at him for a moment, and it's silent between them.

"What the f-"

"Stop saying that!" Michael bursts, his eyes an angry green, the yellow a little less shiny. "Why did you do that? You can't tell anybody!" Michael's eyes widen as he realizes what just happened. "You weren't supposed to see that."

Calum stands there stunned. "What was that?" he asks timidly. His eyes train on Michael's hand again.

"Promise you won't tell anyone," Michael demands.

"I promise," Calum quickly responds. He's eager to understand what's happening.

Michael takes in a deep breath, then Calum watches in amazement as another fire starts on his palm, this time without the lighter. "I can do this at will," he explains. "I don't know how or why. I just think about it, and I do it." The fire doesn't stop, but it lifts from Michael's palm and floats in midair. Calum watches as it splits apart, dwindling softly until it's a single flame at the tip of Michael's finger.

"It's a gift or a curse or, I don't know. But I have it."


	2. I Can Still Taste the Ocean

After learning Michael's special talent, Calum was curious to see just what Michael could do. They spent a long time in Michael's dorm as the redhead put on a show for Calum. He also told everything he knew about his powers, from how he first learned about them to when he told his parents. He also told Calum quite a few stories about how he couldn't control his powers well enough in the beginning so people just thought he was a raging arsonist. He got expelled from one of his schools, and that's when he had to tell his parents.

Michael learned about his powers one day when he was sick. He was running a fever and his mother made him stay home from school so he could get some rest. He tried to fall asleep, but there was always a light behind his eyelids, as if he'd been staring at the sun too long. He kept opening and closing his eyes enough to the point where, eventually, the light stayed.

There was a ball of light floating in front of his eyes, and he almost thought he was dreaming, but then he reached out to touch it, and it burned him. Michael told Calum he couldn't control the heat at first. He would burn himself in the earlier years, and then later grew to protect his skin from the heat. He could touch fire if he really concentrated, and now he doesn't really have to think about it.

After learning that Michael had powers, Calum was curious. He spent a lot of time with Michael, whether it be studying, eating, or just hanging out. He wanted to know just how amazing Michael's powers could be.

Now, Calum is taking a shower before going over to Michael's. Calum's roommate is out right now, so he gets his room to himself when he gets back. He shuts the door behind him, shaking out the water from his hair, only to have it pool in his hands.

"Weird," Calum comments to himself, noticing the droplets clinging to his fingertips. He shrugs and wipes his hands on his towel that he dropped on the floor.

As Calum and Michael grow closer, Ashton grows even more skeptical of their friendship. He's always staring at Calum as if he expects he's about to spontaneously combust or grow leaves from his ears. To teach Ashton a lesson of some sort, Michael gave Calum a potted plant to hide from Ashton to see how long it would take for him to find it went missing. It's only been a day, so Calum's not too sure if Ashton's even looked at his plants yet.

Just because Ashton might be hostile doesn't mean Calum wants to be on his bad side. He takes this into consideration when he picks up a random water bottle and starts pouring it into the pot, thinking the plant should be watered. As he's pouring the water, he takes out his phone to check if he's had any texts, but he should have known. He doesn't have friends, and no friends equals no texts.

Calum sets the water bottle down and checks the soil, but it seems pretty dry still. It almost looks like Calum didn't even put water on it. He picks up the water bottle again, which is almost empty, and pours the rest out. The water, however, doesn't go where he expects it to.

The water streams upwards, away from the plant, and towards the ceiling, where Calum sees the rest of the water he poured formed into a sphere. He realizes he's still pouring the water and he sets the bottle back down, his mouth hanging open. Holy shit.

Before he can compose himself, the door to his room is opening, and Calum looks around quickly and covers the floating water with his towel, pulling it down to his side. "Hey, Cal," his roommate, Luke greets him.

"H-hey," Calum stutters, pushing the water behind his back.

"I'm going to go take a shower, I'll be back later," he tells Calum, taking his own towel and closing the door behind him as he leaves again.

Calum pulls out his phone with a shaky hand and dial's Michael's number. "Hey. Come over here now. I was just watering the plant and then, okay, um, this is going to sound weird, holy shit. I guess about as weird as you. But, like, what? No, I didn't mean it like that. Oh my god, sorry. Um, I was watering the plant and, holy shit. The water, it just. I don't know. The eyelid thing you did. When you were sick." Calum hopes his babbling is at least somewhat coherent. 

"What are you talking about? Never mind. I'll be there in a minute," Michael answers. He hangs up, leaving Calum with his phone pressed to his ear and a towel in his hand.

Calum uncovers the water again, and it swirls around in the orb shape. He touches it, and his fingers get wet, he can feel it, but it doesn't come off on his hands. He stares at it, confused with all physics and chemistry and science he's ever known.

Calum decides to test his powers. He tries moving it through the air like Michael does, his palm flat as he focuses. The water doesn't move anywhere. He drops his hand, trying to think of what Michael does. He holds his hand underneath the orb of water, curling his fingers as if he's holding it. He tries moving it that way, bringing his hand out further from his body, focusing on moving it away from him. It still doesn't move.

There's a knock on the door, and Calum quickly covers it in his towel again, dragging it along with him over to the door. He opens it a crack, peeking outside. He swings it open, pulling Michael inside by the front of his shirt, and quickly closing the door behind him. He locks the door, forgetting that Luke might be wanting back inside.

Calum takes the towel off the water again, looking to Michael to see his reaction. It's not very comforting when Michael only shows complete surprise, his eyes wide and his mouth open. "What?" he asks, reaching forward to touch the water. His fingers actually do get wet, the shine on them making Calum curious.

"How do I get rid of it? Am I doing this? How do I control it?" Calum pleads Michael for his help, thinking he's the expert at abnormal human conditions. He does shoot fire from his hands and all.

Michael looks at the water, then to Calum, then back to the water. "Try, um, carrying it with your hand. You were using a towel, so maybe you're controlling it physically." Michael suggests, not really seeming confident about his answer.

Calum doesn't have another choice. He grabs the floating orb of water, feeling it swirl against his palm as he holds it like a sports ball. He moves his hand, the water moving along with it. He looks at Michael with wide eyes, continuing to move the water around.

He presses it in between his fingers, and it slips through and regains its shape. He walks over to the plant, pulling the water down to the soil and tries to push it into the pot, but it only slips through his fingers again and remains in the shape it started in.

"I guess that's what we have to work on," Michael says from behind Calum. "Shaping."

Calum doesn't even realize how much time has passed until there's a knock on the door. He immediately turns to Michael, his eyes wide in panic. "That's Luke. What do I do? I can't just hold it!"

Michael looks at the water, and then nods. "I'll take care of it. You go get the door." Michael pushes Calum towards the door, hiding the water floating in midair from view.

All Calum sees is a flash of light reflected off the walls before he's opening the door to Luke. Luke's hair is wet, and Calum kind of panics because he doesn't want any water on him, but he calms himself. It only happens when he touches water.

"We were just leaving," Michael tells Luke as he walks up behind Calum. Calum notices the potted plant in his hands, and he wonders why Michael's taking it.

"Alright, see you later, I guess," Luke replies, throwing his towel over the edge of his bed. He lays down on his bed, pulling out his phone.

Michael is pushing Calum out of the room, and Calum argues with him because, "I didn't take my key. What if I get back and Luke's not here? How will I get in?"

Michael drags Calum out of the dorm anyway, pulling him in the direction of the science building. "You can stay over at my place if you're locked out. C'mon, there's something I need to tell you." Calum walks with Michael, nodding for him to continue. "So, I think it started with me. The powers, I mean. I was the first one to get them, and then my mom got them a week after she found out. She can control temperature, like freeze and burn and keep stuff chilled or warm. She's a great cook. My dad got them about two weeks after he found out because I didn't spend a lot of time with him. He can talk to animals. He bought, like, five new pets as soon as I moved out. He's a pretty good veterinarian. And then there's you. You can control water. I don't know what you're going to do with that. You got your powers about a week after finding out I have powers. I think it's just people I get close to. It's my parents, and now you."

Calum realizes Michael's holding open a door for him, and he steps inside a greenhouse once again. He swears there are at least six more plants since the last time he's been here, but that was a while ago. When they reach the door at the other end of the greenhouse, that's when it clicks.

"Ashton too?" Calum asks, looking around at all the greenery surrounding him.

Michael turns and nods at him, his hand resting on the doorknob for the room Calum's only been in once. "Ashton too."


	3. Filthy Animals

Michael turns the knob on the door, pushing it open and holding it to let Calum through. The redhead clutches the potted plant to his chest as Calum passes him, and Michael closes the door behind him. Calum turns around and immediately backtracks at what he sees.

The dirt he originally saw along the shelves the first time he was in here is now floating in midair, swirling like the individual grains are schools of fish. It's like watching something out of a fairy tale as the dirt dances through the air and lands in little pots lining the counter. Calum finally sets his gaze on Ashton, who has small plants in his hands that he places into the pots before filling them the rest of the way with the soil. He hasn't noticed the people watching him yet, and Calum finds it kind of nice how theatrical Ashton made planting plants look.

Michael clears his throat, and Ashton jumps in his place before glancing up. He relaxes when he sees Michael, and then he gets angry when he notices the plant in his hands. "I knew it was you, Clifford. Oh my god, you're always taking my stuff. If you hadn't cheated me into being your friend I would've left your ass a long time ago."

Calum sees the soil flying at him too late, and he gets hit in the face with dirt. He closes his eyes, feeling them watering excessively at the burning sensation of dirt scratching underneath his eyelids. "Oh, god," Calum groans out, his hands moving to his eyes to wipe away dirt and tears.

"Oh my god," he hears Ashton gasp. "He fucking saw the whole thing. Why did you bring him here again, Michael? He could turn me in! Oh my god, you're such a fucking idiot. I can't believe he saw that. Why didn't you warn me?"

"Because of this," Michael replies from beside Calum, and before he knows it, Calum's being dragged across the room while blindly rubbing away his tears. There's a sharp pain in his shoulder as he runs into what he thinks is a metal shelf, and he hears a quiet "sorry" from Michael before they're moving again. Michael is sticking Calum's hand in the sink when Calum can finally open his eyes, and he watches as the water touches his skin but then floats upwards like the water from the water bottle earlier.

Calum looks over at Ashton, who just looks extremely pissed. "I can't believe you, Michael. I told you this was going to happen. I told you that you shouldn't make any more friends until we figured out how to stop it. And what do you do? You become friends with the first person you-"

"Shut up, Ashton. It's happened. We can't change it back. It's done. Now, are you going to help me teach him how to control his powers or are you going to keep throwing a tantrum like a toddler and force me to teach him myself?" Michael looks just as angry as Ashton, which isn't much the longer Michael speaks. The whole time, Calum watches as the water floating in the air gets bigger in size as long as the tap is still running.

Calum turns around to turn it off, but he's stopped when Michael and Ashton yell at him, "wait!" His hand is a mere centimeter away from the handle of the faucet, and Michael quickly moves his hand away and turns off the tap himself.

"Until you learn how to control your powers, you can't touch anything that has the potential of producing water. It was the same for Ashton and I when we first got our powers. Potential powers are a lot more dangerous than controlled powers," Michael explains, moving Calum away from the faucet.

Calum has no idea what any of that means, but he's going to take Michael's word on it.

"You teach him the basics, and I'll put this plant back where I found it," Michael says to Ashton before making his way towards the door.

"Thanks!" Ashton yells after him, appearing to forget how angry he was at Michael earlier. Ashton turns to look at Calum, and Calum suddenly becomes nervous. This is the first time the two boys have been alone together, and Ashton never seemed to like Calum very much.

Ashton reaches up a hand to wipe away dirt from Calum's face. It's then that Calum realizes that the soil that was dancing through the air earlier is now just sitting in piles on the floor, footprints shown where Michael stepped into it. "Sorry for my horrible aim," Ashton apologizes, throwing the dirt he took off Calum to the side, where, to Calum's astonishment, it lands perfectly in one of the pots. Yeah, horrible aim.

"Alright, let's get started," Ashton suggests, clapping his hands together. He turns to the water Calum almost forgot about, and Calum does the same. "Let's start easy. Hold the water in your hand, and try moving it towards you," he instructs.

Calum does as Ashton tells him to, and the water follows Calum's hand, shimmering as Calum lets go. He smiles at Ashton, who looks impressed but not surprised.

"Alright, now try letting the water soak you. Feel the water wetting your skin as you touch it. Imagine the particles attaching themselves to your hand as you pull away. Imagine climbing out of the pool with little droplets of water still on your skin. That's what I want you to do."

Calum reaches up and sticks his fingers in the floating water. He tries his best to think of what Ashton told him, but every time he pulls away, he's empty-handed. He lets out a frustrated noise, closing his hand around the water and watching it slip through his fingertips.

"You're trying too hard," Ashton tells him. "Here, watch me do it with soil."

Calum fixes his eyes on the dirt drifting through the air almost effortlessly and Ashton reaching up to run his fingers through it. His fingers come off dirty, and he flicks his fingers off, and they're clean again. Ashton moves the dirt back to a pot and turns to Calum. "Now, try again."

Calum reaches up, remembering how Ashton did it, and runs his fingers through the water. He pulls away, and his fingers are still dry. He lets out a huff as he looks back at Ashton helplessly. Ashton smiles before moving to his side, their bodies touching as Ashton takes Calum's hand in his. "We'll do it together, okay? Don't think about it too much, just feel it."

Calum nods, and Ashton lifts both of their hands up. Calum feels the water on his fingers, feeling the slosh as the two boys swipe their fingers in it. Calum feels Ashton separate their hands and pull out of the water, his fingers glimmering. Calum pulls his own fingers out, and Calum is ecstatic as he sees the sheen on his own fingers. "I did it!"

"You did!" Ashton laughs, wiping his hand off on his jeans. "Try doing it without me this time."

Calum wipes his fingers off and swirls them in the water again. They come back wet, which makes Calum smile giddily.

"Nice job!" Ashton praises him, patting Calum's lower back softly. His cheeks warm up at the compliment on his powers. Calum can see that Ashton would be a really good teacher's assistant. That's probably why it's his profession as of right now.

Calum looks up and notices Michael leaning against the closed door of the room, his arms crossed and a smile on his face. "Having fun?" The redhead moves closer to the two boys, reaching up and evaporating the water with a flash of light. His eyes shine a bright yellow, then die back down to green. "Try making some."

Michael snaps his fingers, and there appears a flame sitting upon his pointer. He points it towards Calum, who steps back at the close proximity. Calum nods, reaching his hand over Michael's finger and concentrating on putting the fire out. He scrunches his eyebrows together, trying his best to put out the fire. He has to stop when Michael gets a little too close to his hand, and he can feel his hot skin telling him to move away.

Calum wipes his hand on his shirt, letting out a frustrated sigh as he looks at the boys next to him. "It's okay," Ashton assures him. "It took Michael and I a while to figure out how to do it, too."

"Maybe we should call it a day," Michael suggests, shaking his hand to let out the fire. "We could all head back to mine in case Calum has any questions. I don't know if we'll be able to answer them, but we could try."

Ashton and Calum agree with Michael, and pretty soon Ashton is locking the doors to the greenhouse as they all exit the building. Calum looks at Ashton as he turns around, and he figures he could tell him something on his mind now. "That was really cool what you did earlier while planting the plants. I didn't even know Michael could do something like that because he didn't show me. It was actually kind of pretty how, uh, swirly all the dirt was."

Ashton smiles kindly at Calum, and the younger boy is glad he's getting something other from Ashton than glares and intense stares. The two of them walk behind Michael as they make their way towards Michael's place. "Michael can't actually do that. He hasn't had the opportunity to test it out yet, you know, because his powers involve fire. He doesn't want to burn down a town or anything. Also, it's soil, not dirt."

Calum looks at Ashton confusedly. "What's the difference?"

Ashton pauses before answering, "dirt is a dirty word for soil." Ashton looks completely serious for a second until he bursts into a giggle, Calum quickly following suit. 

"What are you two laughing at?" Michael asks, looking annoyed that he's not in on the conversation.

"The fact that your powers aren't as beautiful as mine," Ashton replies followed by another fit of giggles at the look on Michael's face.

"I'm literally light, Irwin. You're just dirt!" He retorts, and immediately cowers as Ashton reaches over to punch him.

"Take that back!" Ashton yells at him, and Michael starts sprinting away from Ashton, causing him to follow. Calum rolls his eyes as he calmly walks along the sidewalk, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Calum thinks that it's no wonder the two boys kept their secret powers for so long. They just act like normal teenagers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think :) sorry for the late update!


	4. Fast and Furious

Calum sits at the edge of the pool, his legs crossed so he's not touching the water. He's waiting for the last person from the swim practice to get out of the pool so he can work on his powers.

After heading home from the greenhouse earlier that week, Calum asked Michael and Ashton a few questions. Neither of them knew very many answers, so it started getting pointless until Calum just asked about Ashton's powers. This led to another performance for Calum's eyes as Ashton did more of his cool swirly tricks. Michael wouldn't admit it, but he was jealous of the way Calum was practically fawning over Ashton's skills.

The boys decided that, although Calum should be careful, he could practice his powers so that he can control them in public. After a quick lesson, which involved a big wet spot on the carpet, they figured Calum mastered the effect of not allowing water to float in midair well enough that they sent him home. Or, at least, that's what Calum likes to think. It might've also been the fact that Ashton was furious at Calum for making such a huge puddle in the carpeting to the point where they didn't have enough towels to put down.

Once the last swimmer walks into the locker room, Calum waits a second before dipping his fingers in. His fingers come back out dry, and he sighs to himself. He stands up and jumps into the pool, focusing on letting the water cling to him. He relaxes, imagining what the water will look like on his skin once he's out of it. He resurfaces and lifts his arm out of the water, seeing the droplets sticking to his skin. He smiles to himself. He's been practicing that.

Calum wonders what else he can do. He takes a deep breath and pushes off of the wall, diving underneath the water and sitting on the floor of the pool. He opens his eyes, finding them burning for a second, but he gets used to it. It's quiet peaceful underneath the water, and he hasn't had the need to flap his arms to stay on the floor. He wonders if that's because of his powers, and he thinks it probably is. He's down there for only a few seconds before his lungs start hurting. He lets out the air as he swims back to the surface, taking a deep breath once he's back on top. 

So, he can't breathe underwater. Calum figures it's probably because he doesn't have an air power. He's about to dunk back under when someone calls out to him, frightening him and making him splash himself in the face as he whips around.

"Hey, Calum!" He sees Luke wave at him from across the pool. He smiles and waves back, noticing the water still dripping down from his skin. Calum quickly swims over to Luke, pulling himself up so that he's resting his arms on the edge of the pool.

"What are you doing here?" Calum asks, brushing his hair out of his face. His brown skin glistens as the light shines off the droplets of water.

"Just got done with swim practice," Luke explains. He holds up his swim back to make a point, and slings it over his shoulder along with a towel. "What about you?"

"Just thought I'd go for a swim," Calum answers. It's then he realizes that he's kicking his feet but the water isn't moving around him. He stops moving his legs.

Luke nods at Calum. "You should think about joining the swim team. You looked pretty fast getting over here. Plus it's really fun."

Calum looks down at the floor, then back up at Luke. He ponders for a moment. "Yeah, some roommate bonding experience should be fun," he smiles. Luke laughs and takes a step back.

"Well, I'll see you back in the room. I have to go to the library to work on a paper." Luke wiggles his fingers in a wave goodbye, and Calum does the same.

"See ya!" Calum slips back into the water, touching his toes on the shallower part of the pool.

As the locker room door shuts again, something comes to his mind. If the water doesn't move when he thinks about it, does that mean he can control his position in the water? Calum quickly swims to a deeper area, and he soon realizes he can't touch when he tries to stand up.

Calum slips under the water, opening his eyes as he starts swimming towards the surface. Then he remembers what he's supposed to be testing, and he stills his limbs. He calmly relaxes into the lull of the water, imagining himself floating to the top without having to move his body. He can see the surface moving closer as he looks up, and all he feels is the rush of water under his feet that's pushing him up. Calum's head emerges from the water, and he takes in a breath. He's not moving a muscle, yet he's floating in the middle of the pool.

Calum tries something else. He imagines himself drifting over to one side of the pool, and then he watches as it happens. A smile grows on his face as his hands touch the pool wall. Maybe he's getting the hang of this.

Calum pushes off the wall, using his arms to complete forward crawl strokes. He imagines moving quickly and swiftly through the water, feeling the water rush past his slicing fingertips. He reaches the other end of the pool before he realizes, so he flips over, kicking off the wall, and starts swimming back to the other side. 

Calum loses track of time completely, the sensation of water splashing against his skin as he zips through the pool somehow calming to him. He takes big gulps of air at interval strokes, but he doesn't feel tired at all. He feels like he's only made it a few laps when he takes a chance to breathe. Either he's out of shape, or he's swimming so fast that he can't breathe properly.

As Calum lifts his hand to check if the water is still sticking (it is), he thinks he might as well try out for the swim team. Maybe that could be his use of his power.

 

\--

 

It's almost a week later when Calum rushes into his room, where he finds Luke sitting up in his bed with his laptop on his lap. He drops his swim bag loudly, causing Luke to look up at him.

"I made the swim team!" Calum gushes, putting his fists into the air in celebration.

Luke grins widely, reaching a hand out for a high-five. "Alright, man!" Calum gives him a high-five, smiling back at him. "Did Coach give you our schedule?"

"He said he'd give it to me tomorrow when I show up for my first practice." Calum sits down on Luke's bed, leaning on his hands behind him.

"You know it's going be hectic, right? It's still pretty early in the season, but training is going to be hard. Coach will expect you to keep up with the rest of us," Luke warns Calum. He nods, knowing the consequences of being a newcomer.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just glad I made it. I've been practicing for a week now," Calum lets out with a content sigh.

"A week? Damn, and you made it? Maybe you're better than I thought," Luke says, raising his eyebrows in an impressed look.

"Maybe I have a gift," Calum jokes. If only Luke knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok I was really excited so I wrote chapter 4 the same day as chapter 3 lol


	5. Cheeseburger Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ashton and Calum make plans to have lunch as a group of friends again.

Joining the swim team was fun but a lot of work. Calum had swim practice almost every morning, and homework almost every night. He hardly went out with friends anymore, and he found himself spending a lot more time with Luke than he had been before. Something about finally sharing a common interest made it more bearable to him to make friends that weren't Michael or Ashton. Luke even started playing rock music quietly as they studied for their classes, and Calum would play R&B music as they got ready for practice in the morning. They joked around like they'd been friends for a long time, and Calum sometimes forgot life outside of his dorm room existed.

Calum's eating noodles while doing homework at 7 pm when his cell phone rings. He reaches for it in his pocket, but to his dismay, it's not there. He looks around his bed, and then finally notices it on the floor where he put it a few days ago. He's surprised as he must not have used it in a while. He picks it up on the last ring, and answers with a bright, "Hello!"

"Calum!" he hears Ashton's voice on the other line. "Hey, mate. It's been a while."

Calum tries to think back to when the last time he hung out with his friends, but he can't remember. "Sure has. What's been going on?"

"Actually, that's what I called about." Ashton replies quickly. "Michael's been all mopey for the past few days. He misses you. I mean, so do I, but Michael makes it seem like the love of his life has moved across the world."

Calum's face heats up, and he's not entirely sure why. Maybe it's flattering that Michael misses him so much. Wow, he feels like a horrible person for ditching his friends like that. Honestly, he didn't remember anything but school and swim, and really, he should've remembered them because Michael was the one to give him his powers anyway.

"Yeah, we should hang out sometime. Maybe the three of us can get lunch between classes," Calum suggests.

"Sounds good! How does Wednesday sound? I don't think you have any classes around lunch on Wednesdays." Of course, Calum should've known that Ashton remembered his schedule. "Wait, maybe we can watch you swim this week. That would be cool!" Ashton says excitedly.

Calum thinks about his swim schedule, and he realizes he has a meet on Saturday. "Yeah, you guys should come to my meet on Saturday! Oh, man. You can see how well I've been doing with my powers."

"I'm sure you're doing great, Cal," Ashton compliments. Calum twirls his fork in his noodles, loving the flattery. "So lunch on Wednesday and swim meet on Saturday?"

"Sounds good," Calum agrees.

"Okay," Ashton replies. "I'll ask where Michael would like to eat, and then we can set up time and place."

"Alright, cool."

"Talk to you later," Ashton says.

"See ya," Calum goodbyes before hanging up. He goes back to eating his noodles, feeling a little better knowing that he's made plans to meet up with his friends.

It wasn't long before Wednesday came and Calum saw his friends at the local cheeseburger place. Personally, Calum didn't think this restaurant was all that good. There's only so much you can do with a burger.

Calum waves to Michael and Ashton, who see him but don't wave back. They turn to each other and start talking, confused looks on their faces.

"Are you sure I'm welcome here?" Luke asks Calum, a worried look clouding his attractive face. "You said they'd like me."

Calum sheepishly shrugs as his gaze meets Luke's. "I might not have told them you were coming."

"Good going," Luke murmurs so that the two boys at the table can't hear him as they get closer. Calum sits down first, sliding in the booth across from Michael, leaving Luke to sit across from Ashton.

Ashton doesn't seem fazed at Luke's appearance, and a smile immediately grows on his face as Calum's eyes meet his. "Hey, man! Good to see you!" And Calum can't help it, he gives Ashton a grin back.

"Yeah, it's been a while. Sorry for not telling you, but I brought my roommate and teammate along. This is Luke." He turns to Luke, who shyly smiles at the two boys sitting across from him. "Luke, this is Ashton," Calum gestures to Ashton. "And this is Michael," he holds his hand out to Michael.

Ashton shoves his hand forward, taking Luke's in his own and shaking it very formally. Calum has to remember that Ashton is a few years older than them, so most of his meetings are probably formal. "Pleased to meet you, Luke," Ashton greets him.

"You too," Luke agrees, a small smile adorning his face. A slight blush decorates his skin, but no one points it out. "I'm sorry, Calum just told me that I wasn't expected to come. I don't mean to intrude on bro time, or whatever."

"Yeah," is the first thing Michael says since they sat down. Calum looks at him, and finds his friend with his arms crossed and a bored look on his face. Calum tries to get Michael to look at him to scold him for being rude, but Michael just stares blankly at his water.

"It's okay," Ashton covers for the redhead. "A friend of Calum's is a friend of ours." Calum knows that's not true, what with the whole powers thing and all, but he mentally thanks Ashton for his friendliness.

Luke looks uncomfortably at the water sat in front of him, and it's silent for a while as they all try to think of how to start a conversation when a waiter comes to their table to take their order. It's a minute or so until they're back to trying to avoid each others' gazes, and Calum finds himself fidgeting in awkwardness.

He watches as Michael takes a sip from his glass, and then he gets an idea. Michael should learn a thing or two about being rude to people he just met. Calum watches as the water slowly drips down Michael's chin and into his lap. Ashton notices before Calum can do too much damage though, and he takes the glass from Michael and sets it back on the table.

"What the fuck, Ash-"

"Look at your pants, Michael."

Michael takes Ashton's advice and glances down, noticing the shiny wet spot on his otherwise dark jeans. He cheeks heat up as he realizes he's not the one who spilled water all over himself. He glares up at Calum, grabbing a napkin from the table and dabbing at his jeans.

Ashton watches as Michael's lap dries quickly, and then he turns to Calum to give him a warning look. He glances over to Luke, who just looks confused.

"So," Calum changes the subject to avoid all stares in his direction. "Ashton, you like Good Charlotte, don't you?"

"Yeah," Ashton replies simply.

"Me too!" Luke gets out before Calum has a chance to tell Ashton.

"Really?" Ashton asks, already looking amused at Luke's outburst.

"Yeah, I do covers of them all the . . ." Luke trails off, his cheeks turning a tint of red. "Sorry," he apologizes, but none of them know what for.

"You do covers? Are you a good singer?" Ashton asks, putting his elbows on the table as he leans forward to Luke, clearly interested now. Calum glances at Michael, who literally looks like he could pass out from boredom.

"I'd like to think I am," Luke replies quietly, the blush not moving from his cheeks. Calum kicks Michael underneath the table, and Michael squints up at him like if he stared hard enough, he could drill holes all the way through Calum's eye sockets.

"Luke's a great singer," Calum argues, turning his attention away from his baby of a friend. "You should hear him in the shower," he says before he realizes how absurd that sounds. Luke and Michael both start choking on their drinks as Ashton starts laughing.

Just then the waiter comes up with their food, not very subtly glancing at Calum like his friends are lunatics. He places the plates down in the correct order, asks Calum specifically if they need anything else, and Calum just answers no. The waiter saunters off, leaving Calum to look at his food hungrily.

"Maybe I could hear you sometime," Ashton winks at Luke. Calum notices Michael start to make a gagging face, and looks at him straight in the eye as Calum places a hand on his drink. Michael stops making gagging faces.

Luke becomes extremely flustered at Ashton's flirting. "I mean, yeah, I have a YouTube channel, and, uh, I guess you could look at it." Luke avoids the insinuation of the shower Ashton so swiftly offered before.

"I'd love to!" Ashton exclaims, picking up his burger as if it were something to praise Luke with.

The lunch goes by pretty quickly after that, the conversation carried on by mostly Luke and Ashton with little inputs from Calum. Michael hardly says a word, and when he does, it's some snide comment towards Luke. Calum doesn't know what his problem is.

As the boys are getting up to leave, Luke turns to Ashton with a look of realization on his face. "I knew you looked familiar! You're the assistant biology teacher, aren't you? You always taught the class before mine last year and were always late leaving."

"Oh, yeah," Ashton laughs. "To be fair, college students are really messy when it comes to labs."

Luke and Ashton continue talking as they stand up to leave. Calum motions them to go out and grabs Michael's hand when he tries to stand up.

"Sit," Calum demands. He picks up his pretty much empty glass, swirling the straw inside as he watches Michael settle into the seat. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Michael scoffs, his eyebrows furrowing as he looks at Calum. "Me? What about you? You didn't tell us Luke was going to be here."

"I'm not the one who acted like he was a piece of shit. Seriously, Michael! You don't even know him, and you acted like he was a damn leper!" Calum watches his glass as the condensation slides off the outside, dripping into his hand.

"I don't make friends very well, okay?" Michael rolls his eyes. He slumps in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Mhmm, and that's why you're friends with me. Last I knew, Ashton was the hostile one, not you."

"Whatever," Michael grumbles as he stands up. As he passes Calum, Calum reaches out and grabs Michael's hand, but immediately jerks back when it burns him.

"Fuck, ouch." Calum sees Michael glance back, but his face grows stern as he stomps out the door.

Well, what a lovely lunch this turned out to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think, please!


	6. Splash Zone

Calum looks around as the crowd slowly trickles in the audience area. His eyes are searching for his friends, but he doesn't see either of them.

"They'll come," Calum hears as a hand pats his shoulder. He turns to see Luke smiling softly at him. He gives a half-hearted smile in return and turns back around to look for his friends again. He spends another ten minutes doing so when Luke is back behind him and telling him they're starting soon.

Calum walks to where the rest of the swim team is doing stretches and joins them. There's a sinking feeling in his stomach as he subtly searches the crowd as he bends over, stretching his leg. He told his friends it was today, right?

Calum doesn't have time to think as Luke is pushing him to a starting block, and he tries to clear his mind the best he can or else this race won't be very good for him. He pulls his goggles on over his eyes and bends into the starting position, his ears tuning to only listen for the sound of the buzzer.

Just as he hears the first second of the buzzer, he's pushing off the starting block and slipping into the water, willing the water to speedily take him to the other side of the pool and back. He takes as many big gulps of air as he can, then dives back underneath the water, feeling bubbles swiftly rush past him.

This is the part where he gets lost. He knows he has a race to finish, but he's thoroughly enjoying just swimming so much that it doesn't feel like a race. His desperate need for air doesn't stop the thrilling feeling of rushing back into the water for another stroke. He can see out of his peripheral vision that he's the first one, that the others are behind him. He's confident in his abilities now. He's learned to use his powers so effortlessly, and it's an amazing feeling.

The buzzer sounds right after he touches the bar at the end of the pool, but Calum doesn't realize until he's six feet away from the wall. He might have lost count of how many laps he has done. Calum surfaces, lifting his goggles and blinking as water immediately starts dripping down his face.

Suddenly there are arms around him and his eyes meet Luke's crinkly ones. "Way to go, Calum! You were great!" Calum smiles widely, matching Luke's grin. He wraps his hands underneath one of Luke's thighs, and Luke gets the idea and lets Calum pull him onto his back.

Of course Luke would celebrate Calum's victory instead of sulking over his own loss. Calum can't believe how great of a person Luke is. He bounds back over to the side of the pool, Luke clinging to Calum with his arms wrapped around Calum's neck. He's yelling loudly as the rest of Calum's team comes over to give Calum high fives.

Calum and Luke climb out of the pool, each finding their water bottles to chug down. It's when Calum's halfway through swallowing that he sees Ashton waving wildly at him, and he chokes back a cough at the unexpected appearance of his friend. Calum walks over to the edge of the audience stands and waits for Ashton to join him.

"Hey, buddy! That was amazing! I see you've been practicing." Ashton excitedly chatters as he comes up to Calum, reaching out for a hug then stopping himself when he remembers Calum is wet.

Calum notices his hesitance and then winks at Ashton, pulling his friend in for a hug. Ashton squeals a tiny bit, wriggling from Calum's grasp as he pulls away, but there's no water on Ashton at all. Ashton looks down at his dry shirt, then punches Calum in the arm. "I thought you were going to get me soaked!"

"That's what she said," Calum giggles, then realizes exactly what he's implied. "Damn it, Ashton. Why do you have to be so horrible with words?"

Ashton laughs until he sees Calum looking behind him, searching the crowd. "Where's Michael?" Calum asks, feeling that same sinking feeling as earlier.

"He didn't come," Ashton answers, a guilty look on his face. "He thinks Luke is stealing his friends. I tried to tell him how ridiculous that is, but he wouldn't listen."

Calum frowns, then turns just as another buzzer sounds. He watches his team members swim another lap in the pool before setting his gaze on Luke, who is sitting on the bench. As Luke looks over, he spots Ashton and Calum and waves. Calum waves back, causing Ashton to look over and smile widely at Luke.

"He's so attractive, isn't he?" Ashton asks, then blushes once he realizes he's said that out loud. "I mean, uh, I mean, he's attractive and nice. He's, like, popular and stuff."

Calum laughs as he watches Ashton stumble for words. "Yeah, he is. You should go talk to him."

Ashton looks between Calum and Luke, a pondering expression on his face. "I can't," he finally exasperatedly lets out. "He's way cooler than me. I'm pretty sure he doesn't even like me."

Calum's eyes crinkle as he smiles at Ashton. "He loved meeting you! I'm sure he wouldn't mind becoming your friend. You two have a lot more in common than him and me."

"Really?" Ashton asks, seemingly remembering where they are as he jumps when another buzzer sound goes off. 

"Yeah! You like his music, and he's into all that science shit." Calum looks back over to Luke, who seems to have the same idea as him, and is walking over to Calum and Ashton. "Hey, he's coming over here."

"Oh my god, Calum. Do I look okay?" Ashton runs a hand through his hair, worriedly glancing at Luke.

Calum smiles to himself. "You look great. Go ask him out." Calum giggles at Ashton's suddenly annoyed face and the glare pointed in Calum's direction.

"Shut up. I don't-"

"Hey, Ashton!" Luke smiles brightly. Ashton immediately turns to smile at Luke, a blush lightly sprinkled across his cheeks.

"Hi," Ashton says as quietly as one can when they're in a loud area with swimmers splashing away in a pool.

"I'm going to go talk to the other guys," Calum tells the the two of them, one of them shooting him a death glare. 

He wiggles his fingers in a wave as he walks away, taking a seat back on the bench facing the pool with the rest of his team. Calum does strike up a small conversation with the person next to him to avoid any objection of his spying, but he spends the rest of the swim meet watching Ashton and Luke get closer with giggles and bashful smiles on their faces. Calum knows that by the end of meet, when Ashton finally glances over to Calum with a smug glint in his eyes, Ashton's got a date. 

Calum walks into the locker room with the rest of his team, throwing his towel over his shoulder. He spots Luke on his way in, and he winks at him. Luke's response is to blush and turn away, a smile creeping up on his face.

Calum changes out of his speedo and swim cap and into the clothes he came here in. He stuffs his items into his swim bag, quickly going back into the pool area to see if Ashton left. Ashton is standing by the edge of the pool, his hands in his pockets and his thongs on the ground beside him. His eyes catch Calum's as he exits the locker room.

All Calum sees in the next second is a grin growing on Ashton's face and then water shooting towards him from Ashton splashing his foot in the pool. Calum puts his hands up, his eyes squeezing shut as he waits for the water to hit him. Then he feels silly because he remembers his powers. He opens his eyes to see the water droplets in midair and Ashton giggling in the background.

"Wait, what the fuck?"

Ashton stops laughing, and his face turns shocked as his gaze peers over Calum's shoulder. The water drops onto the ground as Calum whips around, seeing Luke with a confused look on his face.

"How did you do that?" Luke asks, taking a step towards Calum. He pauses, then steps back to where he originally was standing. "How did that happen?"

As more people trickle out of the locker room, Calum glances back at Ashton, who looks just as nervous as he feels. Calum turns to Luke again, and nods his head towards the door. "We need to talk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I've been really busy and have had major writer's block because I know exactly how I want this story to go, I just can't figure out how to put it in words. But it's up now! Hopefully I'll work on th next chapter soon! Tell me what you think in the comments :)


	7. With the Lights Off

It's safe to say that everything was explained to Luke after he had accidentally seen Calum use his powers. He hadn't wanted to know absolutely everything. He didn't ask questions. He didn't want to see any cool tricks. It seemed as if though he didn't want anything to do with the three boys' powers. And Michael was all for that: the less Luke knows, the more at ease he feels.

But Ashton and Calum had pulled Michael aside, to his objection of course, and told Michael that, yeah, Luke may not want to know about powers, but Michael couldn't hate Luke for fear of Luke exposing all of them. Michael had to agree, he didn't want that. As far as he knew, the boys and his family were the only people that had the ability to do these things, and he wanted to make sure no one found out about it. 

So without much of a fight, Michael just stopped hating Luke. He didn't necessarily like him, but he figured that was a step better than hating and possibly arguing for all eternity. Michael stopped being his worrisome self and instead went out with his friends even when Luke was invited. It was one night that they all went to a club that Michael would reflect on later and pinpoint exactly where things changed.

Michael dances with Ashton as Luke and Calum sit at a table nearby, their eyes watching the two boys on the dance floor. Michael glances over every once in a while, noticing the lighting making Calum dark and handsome, his eyes shaded as he brings an almost empty glass to his lips. He smiles at Michael when he sees him looking at him, but Michael turns away to see that Ashton is looking over there too.

"Hey, I never asked," Michael starts, pulling Ashton's hand into his and twirling him around. "How was your date with Luke? Where'd you go?"

If Ashton's cheeks weren't already flushed from having a few drinks himself and dancing for quite a while, his skin got impossibly pinker as he answered Michael's question. "I took him to a football game which actually really sucked because neither of us were all that interested in it anyways. I think I knew he wasn't having fun, so I left with him a little early. I didn't know where to go, so I took him to the park and bought him ice cream." Ashton pauses as a smile erupts on his face. "When we finished our ice cream, he took my hand, and we walked around for quite a while just talking. He's so sweet. The sun was setting, and it was beautiful, and I looked at him and just... I couldn't kiss him. He didn't look at me back." 

Ashton looks at Michael, and he's still smiling, but it's got a sad tone to it now. "I drove him back to the dorms and walked him to your room. I knew you weren't there, and he opened the door. He said he had fun and that he'd like to do it again. I could tell he wanted to kiss me. His cheeks were all pink, and he was acting all cute. God, I really like him. I didn't kiss him."

Michael pulls Ashton into a hug, his hand rubbing over his back at an effort towards comfort. "It's okay, Ash. You'll find the perfect time to do it. From what you've told me, he still likes you."

Ashton giggles softly, pulling away from Michael and twirling him around this time. The two go back to dancing, if you could call it dancing. Their laughter and screaming along to the music rings out the more they have fun. It's only a few songs later that someone is tapping Ashton's shoulder, and Ashton turns around to see an amused Luke behind him.

"May I have this dance?" Luke asks, his eyes also looking to Michael, who smiles at him and starts walking away.

Michael thinks that maybe he's a little more fond towards Luke.

As Michael goes to sit down at the table he saw his friends in, someone bumps into him straight on, knocking him back a step. Hands grab onto his shoulders to steady him. "Oh, I'm sorry!" he hears Calum squeak, and Michael looks up to see Calum's face inches away from his own. Michael can't help but quickly glance at Calum's lips.

"It's okay," Michael breathes, his eyes moving back to Calum's. There's another moment before he asks, "do you want to dance with me?"

Calum nods and takes Michael's hand. Michael feels a familiar hot feeling in his fingertips but notices that it cools down almost immediately as Calum turns to smirk at him.

Calum takes Michael's arms and wraps them around his own neck. His fingers dip into the back pockets of Michael's skinny jeans. Calum's lips brush against the stubble on Michael's cheek as he leans in to speak into Michael's ear. "You seem to be on fire tonight."

Calum maliciously, and deliciously, starts moving his hips up against Michael's. Michael groans, his thoughts turning to mush. "I wonder why," he replies back. Michael can feel his fingertips heating up against Calum's skin.

To anyone else, it might just look like Calum is sweaty, but to the pair of them, Calum is easing the heat from Michael's hands. Michael feels his control slipping with every movement between the two of them. He might as well be drenched in his own sweat with how hot he feels.

Michael feels cooler a few minutes later when a gust of wind hits him in the face. He looks toward where the source is, but he can't find a fan or vent or doorway anywhere near. He looks through the people dancing and only just manages to see Luke and Ashton kissing. He smiles to himself before pushing Calum's shoulder, pointing out the couple to him too.

"Oh my god, finally," Calum laughs. He turns his face abruptly towards Michael when another gust of wind hits them.

And then it clicks.

"We need to go," Michael urgently tells Calum. He grabs Calum's hand, his skin feeling cooler than it's been all night.

"Why?" Calum whines. "Keep dancing with me."

Michael turns back around, leaning in to whisper in Calum's ear. "Luke is producing that wind." Michael watches as Calum's eyes grow wider, and he nods, allowing Michael to drag him through the sea of drunk people towards their friends.

Michael feels bad for pulling the two apart, but he presses his hand against Ashton's shoulder, making the couple face him. "I need to tell you both something outside." The seriousness on Michael's face must be enough reason for them because soon the four are traveling through the club, walking through the door as a giant burst of wind comes rushing from what seems like all directions.

"Oh my god," Luke panics, finally understanding as the wind swishes his hair around. "It's me. I'm doing this. Oh my god."

Luke's eyes grow big, and he seems to freeze up except for the heaving breaths he takes in. Tears flow freely from his eyes as he looks at the three boys staring back at him, unsure of what to do. His breaths become audible, and he can't seem to control it.

"Let's get him out of here," Michael suggests, already pushing Luke away from the front door of the club. The wind seems to get stronger, the pulses appearing to match with Luke's erratic breathing. As the group turns a corner, Michael takes Luke aside, making sure he's okay.

"Luke, look around you, we're in a pretty secluded area, okay? Let the wind blow. You don't have to control it right now," Michael tries to help. Luke nods, holding his breath in for a minute before letting it back out. There's a steady breeze against all of them, but it doesn't feel so heavy anymore. 

Michael takes Luke's hand and places it on his chest. "Feel me breathe. I want you to try and match your breathing to mine." Michael slows down his breathing, watching as Luke follows suit. The wind dies down slowly but surely.

Luke hiccups and wipes the tears from his face, the wind coming and going as he breathes in and out. He doesn't say anything, he knows that the other three know how he's feeling. "Let's take you home," Michael says quietly, his hand rubbing Luke's shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think! I love to see your comments :)


	8. Burn, Baby, Burn

"Let's go Luke!"

"C'mon Calum!"

Ashton and Michael are screaming at the top of their lungs, watching the two boys zip through the water faster than the other competitors. Ever since Luke developed his powers, he's found them very handy when it comes to competing during swim meets. Before, Calum always had the lead when it came to competing, but now Luke is right up there with him, winning placement after placement.

Luke watches as all the bubbles trail behind him, his feet whirring and splashing almost delicately as he swiftly moves through the water. He can see Calum out of the corner of his eye, so he speeds up and reaches the end of the pool mere milliseconds before his friend. The buzzard goes off, and he blinks as the water from the other lanes splash his face.

Luke turns his head to the scoreboard, and he finds that he's won with Calum barely in second. He puts both hands in the air and high fives Calum, who is smiling widely. "Way to go, Luke!"

The two boys accept all the congratulations from the rest of their team and the team they were competing against. They climb out of the pool, and bunches of hands reach out to pat their backs as they make their way over to their towels. They wipe themselves off, turning back around to go talk to their friends in the audience.

"Mr. Hemmings, Mr. Hood," someone calls out to them. Their eyes meet a very fit man in thongs, shorts, and a polo shirt. "Hi, I'm James Maron. I'm the coach for the Olympic swim team." Mr. Maron holds out his hand to each of the boys, whom shake it with growing excitement.

"Nice to meet you," Luke greets, followed by a sound of affirmation from Calum.

"I saw some record-breaking wins from the both of you in the news, so I set up a meet with your coach so that I could witness your talent myself. And let me say, I'm very impressed. Would either of you consider staying in the competitive swimming career after school?" Mr. Maron asks, his eyes glinting knowingly as the boys' faces light up.

"We'd definitely consider it!" Calum smiles brightly.

"Alright! I'll give you each my card, and we can set up meeting dates for possible recruitment," Mr. Maron suggests. He fishes out two cards from his wallet and hands them to each of the boys wrapped in their towels. 

"Thank you, Mr. Maron," Calum says, turning to Luke as the coach walks away. "That actually happened."

"Who are going to be the next Olympic competitors?!" Luke yells out, his arms raising in the air.

"Hopefully we are!" Calum yells, laughing loudly.

The two boys walk very quickly, because they can't run in a pool area, to the stands, and over to their curious friends. "Calum and I were invited to join the Olympic swim team!" Luke shares with the two other boys excitedly.

"That's amazing," Ashton smiles as he envelopes Luke into a hug. "Oh, you're all wet."

"I can dry you off," Luke laughs, refusing to let go of Ashton.

"You're going to be an Olympic swimmer," Michael announces, his cheeks turning pink in enthusiasm. His eyes crinkle as he smiles at Calum.

"And you're going to come to every event, right?" Calum asks.

"Of course, you're my best friend."

Calum giggles and pulls Michael into a hug. He doesn't think about him still being all wet from his race until Michael complains. Calum pulls away from Michael but leaving his arms around his waist, and Michael's hands automatically go to touch Calum's chest.

"Actually," Michael starts, watching as a water droplet trickles down Calum's cheek. "I'm quite warm, I don't need you to keep me dry." Michael's fingertips run up Calum's chest to his neck, his thumb pads rubbing his jaw.

"You're going to burn me," Calum warns lowly, his eyes darting to Michael's lips before he realizes that's maybe not what friends do.

"Shut up and kiss me," Michael smirks, leaning in closely.

"Boss-" Calum gets cut off by Michael's lips being pressed against his. Yeah, maybe not a good time to add in another joke. Calum knows that he'd prefer Michael burning him than anything else.

 

And to think, all this happened because Michael can't resist the urge to use his powers in public.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've loved writing this fic so much! I hope you've liked it too! This is the last chapter, but definitely not the last story from me :) if you have any ideas you want me to write about, I can definitely try something out!


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